17-year-old kills two-month-old son in Delhi over wife’s ‘affair’

The mother told the police that her husband often expressed doubts over the child’s parentage and repeatedly refused to treat the child as his own.

A two-month-old child was murdered in outer Delhi’s Mangolpuri area on Saturday, allegedly by his juvenile father who suspected his wife was having an affair and had raised doubts about the child’s paternity.

The 17-year-old boy allegedly killed the child in his house when his wife, who is also 17, was not present at home, police officials said. The police said they suspect that the accused allegedly threw the baby’s body around as they found several of the infant’s bones fractured.

The parents of the deceased reportedly married 10 months ago and had been living together since. The baby boy was born two months ago, police officials said. The police said that both the child’s parents are unemployed and the father has a history of involvement in petty crimes.

“On Saturday afternoon, the mother had left the house for Connaught Place to look for work as she had heard about an opening for a salesgirl there. When she returned home around 6pm, she found the child lying on the floor with several injuries. She rushed the infant to a hospital where the child was declared brought dead,” said additional deputy commissioner of police (outer) Rajendra Singh Sagar.

Upon questioning the accused, police officials learnt that for the past few months he had been fighting with his wife accusing her of having an extra-marital affair.

The situation allegedly worsened after the child was born. The mother told the police that the father often expressed doubts over the child’s parentage and repeatedly refused to treat the child as his own. The mother also told the police that the father was a drug addict.

The boy has been apprehended, said ADCP Sagar, adding that the accused has confessed to have killed the child.

Police officials said they would seek legal advice in the case as both the parents are minors, so their marriage and the birth of the child may attract a case of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.